Device for adjusting the size of a ring

ABSTRACT

A RESILIENT FILLER TO BE FITTED INTO A LARGE SIZE RING TO ADAPT IT TO FIT A SMALLER FINGER, HAVING A BRIDGE ELEMENT TO FIT AGAINST THE INSIDE OF THE FINGER OF THE WEARER, SPRING MEMBERS TO GENTLY URGE THE BRIDGE ELEMENT INTO FIRM FINGER ENGAGEMENT AND INTEGRAL CLIP ELEMENTS BY WHICH THE RING SIZER IS MORE OR LESS PERMANENTLY ATTACHED TO THE RING.

Jan. 5; 1971 I J. A. C i OlMlER 3,552,144

DEVICE FOR ADJUSTING THE SIZE OF A RING Original Filed Aug. 28, 1967 INVENTOR JOSEPH A COIZMIER v BY M ATTOR-NE 3,552,144 DEVICE FOR ADJUSTING THE SIZE OF A RING Joseph A. Cormier, 132 Main St., Spencer, Mass. 01562 Continuation of application Ser. No. 663,765, Aug. 28, 1967. This application Sept. 15, 1969, Ser. No. 858,198 Int. 'Cl. A44c 9/02 US. Cl. 63- -15.6 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A resilient filler to be fitted into a large size ring to adapt it to fit a smaller finger, having a bridge element to fit against the inside of the finger of the wearer, spring members to gently urge the bridge element into firm finger engagement and integral clip elements by which the ring sizer is more or less permanently attached to the mug.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 663,765, filed Aug. 28, 1967, and now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION At various times a person may desire to temporarily wear a ring that is much too large for the finger of the wearer. In those instances where one does not desire to cut down the size of the ring to permanently alter its shape, various types of takeup devices have been suggested.

KNOWN PRIOR ART Several constructions for this purpose have been shown in the prior art such as for example in the US. patents to Johnson 3,238,741, Mar. 8, 1966, Ring Guard and Sizing Device, and Levin 1,754,392, Apr. 15, 1930, Finger Ring Guard.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION My invention is an improvement on this prior art in providing a ring sizer including a bridge element that is resiliently urged into contact with the ring finger while at the same time providing for a more positive alignment and attachment of the sizer to the shank of the ring. The bridge element is designed to approximate the curve of the finger and integral spring means engage the shank portion of the ring to initiall maintain a light resilient pressure of the bridge against the finger and to maintain good engagement between the sizer and the ring during its use. Integral attaching tabs are provided for interfitting the ring sizer with the shank of the ring to hold the sizer in place.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing my ring sizer attached to a ring;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of my ring sizer adapted to be fitted into a ring;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the ring sizer as shown in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a plan view of my ring sizer as manufactured and before being shaped to be interfitted with a ring.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The ring sizer of my invention, as shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings, has an arcuate bridge member 10 that is adapted to span the aperture A formed by the circular shank 11 of the ring. It is seen that the bridge functions United States Patent ice Integral with the bridge portion 10, are two reversely bent spring members 12 and 13. The spring members are shaped to engage against the inside wall of shank 11 to gently urge the bridge member 10 into the aperture A of the ring, the degree of pressure between the bridge 10 and the finger being controlled by the action of spring members 12 and 13 which pressure is adjusted at the time of the initial fitting of the ring sizer in the ring, by putting more or less of an arcuate bend in the bridge member. In other words, when the bridge member 10 and spring elements 12 and 13 are initially shaped as shown in FIG 2. the shape is designed consistent with the size of ring finger to be fitted and the size of the aperture in the ring. Then the ring sizer is first frictionally engaged in the aperture A of the ring with a snug fit and then the bridge member is bent to assume the more arcuate shape shown in FIG. 1, the spring members 12 and 13 are urged to have a tight resilient fit against the inside periphery of the aperture A defined by the shank 11 so that the spring members tend to urge the bridge 10 gently upwardly as shown in FIG. 1. Depending on the tightness of fit desired, more or less of an arcuate shape is formed in bridge 10 whereby to more or less completely surround the finger to be accommodated.

Once the ring sizer has been carefully sized and fitted into the aperture in the shank of the ring to have a firm resilient fit with the ring finger of the wearer, integral tabs 14, 15, 16, and 17 are bent into engagement around the shank 11 as shown in FIG. 1. The tabs serve to relatively permanently attach the ring sizer to the shank of the ring and the resilient frictional engagement of the spring members 12 and 13 against the shank 11 provides a tight frictional fit to hold the ring sizer firmly in place.

The ring sizer here shown is preferably formed from a sheet of some resilient inert metal alloy such as a silver or gold alloy conventionally used in the jewelers art. The sizer blank may be cut to the pattern shown in FIG. 4 to provide a single universal design adapted to fit any size of ring to make any particular ring fit a smaller finger. After the blank has been initially manufactured to the planar shape shown in FIG. 4, it may be fitted into a ring having either a large or small size of aperture A. First the approximate size of the arcuate bridge is decided upon and then the reversely formed spring elements 12 and 13 are bent to the form shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 so the spring elements will fit the curvature of the ring. Then the bridge is bent to a slight arcuate form and the ring sizer is frictionally fitted into the aperture A. The arcuate bridge member is then more carefully shaped to the exact curvature desired to give just the right degree of tightness of fit desired by the wearer and then tabs 14, 15, 16, and 17 are bent to surround the shank 11 to complete the assembly of the ring sizer in aperture A.

The bridge is selected to have a width to provide a comfortable fit against the finger and it will be noted that no sharp corners are exposed to press against the skin to cause irritation. The construction provides a well distributed bearing area to engage the ring finger whereby an improved, more firmly attached and reliable ring sizer results. Furthermore, the ring size may be constructed in a standard size that, nevertheless, will fit almost all sizes of rings.

I claim:

1. A ring sizer for use in combination with a finger ring having an aperture defined by the shank portion of the ring and comprising means forming an integral arcuate bridge portion for spanning the aperture, a plurality of elongated spring means disposed at opposite ends of the bridge means, each spring means reversely turned under the bridge means for resiliently and frictionally engaging the shank portion of the finger ring, the ends of said spring means being spaced from each other whereby the engagement of the spring means with the shank portion of the finger ring urges the bridge means toward a comfortable interfitted engagement with the finger of the wearer, integral tab means for maintaining said engagement of the spring means with the shank portion of the finger ring, said tab means consisting of two pair of oppositely directed tabs, each pair of tabs being located adjacent the opposite ends of the bridge means and adjacent each of the elongated spring means and extending outwardly from each side of each of the elongated spring means, each of said tab means being adapted to engage the outermost portion of the shank portion of the ring after the ring sizer has been fitted into the aperture of the ring and adjusted to the desired size to fit the finger 0f the wearer of the ring whereby a universal form of ring sizer is provided which is capable of being selectively fitted to any size of aperture in any size of ring to temporarily reduce the size of the aperture for fitting 5 the ring to a smaller finger.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 2,817,219 12/1957 Campbell 6315.6 3,238,741 3/1966 Johnson 6315.6

F. BARRY SHAY, Primary Examiner 

